martial arts colony?

[CuongNhuka]

Believe me, the idea of a rigorous approach to the MAs—the same standards of MA history that you would apply in judging a book on the Reformation or an article on the role of the Federal Reserve in the American economy for publication, or, so far as biomechanics were concerned, in evaluating an experimental investigation of muscle size in power generation for NSF funding—is music to mine ears. Can you imagine how much dojo legend would be punctured and deflated before our eyes if those extreme standards of rigor were applied?

But what you always have to ask yourself, in these entertaining daydreams which we all (I suspect) have had at one time or another, is: Will this work? Will there be a clientele for such a project willing to fork over the $$ necessary to make it run, even as a break-even proposition? Where will the graduates from such a program go (bearing in mind that a very large program cannot long survive if the market for its graduates is relatively small). I'd rather not ask these kinds of hard questions; like you, I'd rather imagine what MA education would be like in a perfect world. But I've been a university professor long enough to know that the damned stupid reality out there isn't necessarily going to accommodate our cherished visions...

Like I said, offer degrees in things like anatomy, phgysics, and so on. Traditional degrees themed around Martial Arts. Better?

 

[CuongNhuka]

But I...........

*sniffle*

*walks away dejected like*


*doesn't see car*

Andy, all you offered was to be the mascot. Alright, alright stop crying... (-offers hug-). You can dean of something, will that make you feel better? Want me to help you find your car?

 

[Flying Crane]

My fantasy in this realm goes something like this...

If I were to win the lottery and have multiple millions of dollars to play with, I would set up a multi-discipline martial school of some sort. I'd have several different training rooms, with equipment designed to meet most any kind of needs one could come up with: heavy bags, makiwara, wooden dummies, floor mats, weaponry, and lots of open space. Maybe even a long hall of some sort designed for things like archery practice during bad weather.

I would like to bring together an assortment of highly skilled teachers of various arts, and basically give them access to the space to teach their students. Students could take classes from any/all of the different teachers. But the kick is that the different teachers would need to display a genuine openness and respect towards each other and what they are teaching. I think it would be a disaster if a bunch of egomaniacal jackasses got together and started dissing each other to the students.

But I like the thought that you could come in and within the same facility get instruction in traditional karate systems, kung fu systems, grappling systems, internal systems, weaponry systems etc., with enough training halls available for 8 or 10 classes to be going on at any given moment throughout the week.

While it is tempting to set this kind of thing up out in the wilderness somewhere, I think that would be a failure because it would be too far away to attract people to train. I think it would need to be in an urban area with enough interest to have all these different instructors on staff.

Since the cost of buying the property and setting up the center, as well as instructor salaries, would come out of the inital lottery winnings, I would only charge students enough to pay the ongoing monthly costs such as water, electricity, maintennance and whatnot.

Lots of details to work out, but it's fun to think about.

 

[Sensei Payne]

Right, but no other input?

nope...

There must be some sort of admissions group with this colony of sorts

 

[CuongNhuka]

Crane, you are know on my buddy list. You freakin' rock! I was already thinking I would do it in an average-sized college town.

See, here's what I'm thinking for the colony:
Floor space - As big as possible, like a college gym sized room. Floor is covered in matts, with an unmatted walk area on the sides. Walls are covered in mirrors (good for critqueing your technique)

Underground space - Divided between kitchen/dining room/pantry on one corner, and a library in the other. With the remaining half being devoted to conditioning. So, heavy bags, makiwara, wooden dummies, weights, so on.

Top rooms - Housing and possibly offices.

You can live in for a slightly higher cost (60 as a not live in, 80 as a live in), which can be dropped by doing chores (cleaning matt, cooking, so on). Rent is 10% lower then average for city, ultilities divided up by tenets.

not sure how a college would work out though.

 

[grydth]

I read what Flying Crane and Carol have posted, and it sounds a lot like my "if I had a million" fantasy.

Remember, though.... there are many a hard fall in that transition from fantasy to reality. Utopian and specialized societies have been tried many times in the past - and what usually happened?

The closest we'll likely ever come to such a place as envisioned.... is right here on this Forum.

 

[CuongNhuka]

I read what Flying Crane and Carol have posted, and it sounds a lot like my "if I had a million" fantasy.

Remember, though.... there are many a hard fall in that transition from fantasy to reality. Utopian and specialized societies have been tried many times in the past - and what usually happened?

The closest we'll likely ever come to such a place as envisioned.... is right here on this Forum.

That doesn't mean I cann't save my pennys and dream.

 

[grydth]

That doesn't mean I cann't save my pennys and dream.

If enough of us do that, somebody's got to get lucky....

 

[CuongNhuka]

If enough of us do that, somebody's got to get lucky....

Or, we could pool our resources.

 

[DavidCC]

Andy, all you offered was to be the mascot. Alright, alright stop crying... (-offers hug-). You can dean of something, will that make you feel better? Want me to help you find your car?

Andy the Steel Tiger?

 

[DavidCC]

My fantasy in this realm goes something like this...

If I were to win the lottery and have multiple millions of dollars to play with, I would set up a multi-discipline martial school of some sort. I'd have several different training rooms, with equipment designed to meet most any kind of needs one could come up with: heavy bags, makiwara, wooden dummies, floor mats, weaponry, and lots of open space. Maybe even a long hall of some sort designed for things like archery practice during bad weather.

I would like to bring together an assortment of highly skilled teachers of various arts, and basically give them access to the space to teach their students. Students could take classes from any/all of the different teachers. But the kick is that the different teachers would need to display a genuine openness and respect towards each other and what they are teaching. I think it would be a disaster if a bunch of egomaniacal jackasses got together and started dissing each other to the students.

But I like the thought that you could come in and within the same facility get instruction in traditional karate systems, kung fu systems, grappling systems, internal systems, weaponry systems etc., with enough training halls available for 8 or 10 classes to be going on at any given moment throughout the week.

While it is tempting to set this kind of thing up out in the wilderness somewhere, I think that would be a failure because it would be too far away to attract people to train. I think it would need to be in an urban area with enough interest to have all these different instructors on staff.

Since the cost of buying the property and setting up the center, as well as instructor salaries, would come out of the inital lottery winnings, I would only charge students enough to pay the ongoing monthly costs such as water, electricity, maintennance and whatnot.

Lots of details to work out, but it's fun to think about.

I think I would do sortof the opposite. I would travel to train with the best. In my private jet, of course, I DID win the lottery after all.

 

[CuongNhuka]

Andy the Steel Tiger?

It's better then Andy 'King of Sparta'.

Besides, while this would be a way to gather up some of the best Martial Artists, and expose them to others, it would also be something like a normal Dojo/Dojang/whatever you call it.

 

[Steel Tiger]

My fantasy in this realm goes something like this...

If I were to win the lottery and have multiple millions of dollars to play with, I would set up a multi-discipline martial school of some sort. I'd have several different training rooms, with equipment designed to meet most any kind of needs one could come up with: heavy bags, makiwara, wooden dummies, floor mats, weaponry, and lots of open space. Maybe even a long hall of some sort designed for things like archery practice during bad weather.

I would like to bring together an assortment of highly skilled teachers of various arts, and basically give them access to the space to teach their students. Students could take classes from any/all of the different teachers. But the kick is that the different teachers would need to display a genuine openness and respect towards each other and what they are teaching. I think it would be a disaster if a bunch of egomaniacal jackasses got together and started dissing each other to the students.

But I like the thought that you could come in and within the same facility get instruction in traditional karate systems, kung fu systems, grappling systems, internal systems, weaponry systems etc., with enough training halls available for 8 or 10 classes to be going on at any given moment throughout the week.

While it is tempting to set this kind of thing up out in the wilderness somewhere, I think that would be a failure because it would be too far away to attract people to train. I think it would need to be in an urban area with enough interest to have all these different instructors on staff.

Since the cost of buying the property and setting up the center, as well as instructor salaries, would come out of the inital lottery winnings, I would only charge students enough to pay the ongoing monthly costs such as water, electricity, maintennance and whatnot.

Lots of details to work out, but it's fun to think about.

You could put it on an island. Say, near Hong Kong...